Neumann is 4WD Buggy Top Qualifier at DHI Cup

Defending DHI Cup offroad champion Joern Neumann will start his challenge for a hat trick of wins at the Danish event from the best possible position tomorrow with the Team Durango ace securing the overall TQ honors in the final round of qualifying.  With Team Xray’s Martin Bayer topping the opening two qualifiers, the German came back strong in the Q3 & 4 taking both rounds but it was his Q4 time that would decide the tie break and secure him the No.1 spot n the grid.  Behind the two Pro factory team drivers, young local talent & Team Associated supported driver Jesper Rasmussen will line up third, his third fastest time in Q4 bumping Schumacher team leader & designer Tom Cockerill back down to fourth on the triple A-Main grid.

‘Getting a little closer now’ was how Neumann summed up his performance in the final two qualifiers.  Changing to heaver oil in the rear shocks of his Orion powered DEX410, the Worlds Top Qualifier said the buggy was really good and tomorrow should make for very exciting racing.  Having been slightly surprised by Bayer’s early pace, the winner of the DHI Cup in both 2WD and 4WD since offroad was introduced to the famous international touring car event, he said his is now very confident about his chances for the win in 4WD, adding it is more than can be said for hopes of success in 2WD.

‘Really close’ was how a slightly disappointed Bayer summed up Q4. The European Champion was neck & neck with Neumann but got it wrong on the wall section on the penultimate lap costing himself 3-seconds.  Really happy with the pace and performance of his LRP powered XB4, he said he is really looking forward to tomorrow adding it should be a really good final and battle between him & Neumann.

The best placed Dane over all four classes at the end of qualifying, 15-year-old Rasmussen was clearly pleased with his days driving. Having targeted himself a podium finish at the event of which is father Ulrich is instrumental in its annual organisation he said he is really confident about achieving his goal tomorrow as his B44.4 is working really well.

‘Just not quick enough’ was Cockerill’s response to securing fourth on the grid.  The British driver said he couldn’t pull away from Rasmussen in the final qualifier and for the finals he hopes reverting to his Q2 set-up will give him some chance of being able to fight for a podium placing.  After a crash in Q3 he pulled in to adjust his ride height to test some options but the set-up he ran for the final qualifier just left his Nosram powered K1 Aero lacking pace.  Pitting next to Marc Rheinard he said jokingly it was some consolation to know his qualifying result was still better than that of the 3-time World Champion achieved in the touring car section of the event.

4WD Buggy A-Main Grid
1. Jörn Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 310 pts
2. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 310
3. Jesper Rasmussen (DK) – Team Associated – 305
4. Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 303
5. David Hassel (SE) – Team Xray – 303
6. Kim Nielsen (DK) – Team Xray – 301
7. Oskar Levin (SE) – Team C – 300
8. Niclas Månsson (SE) – Team Associated – 299
9. Simon Moss (GB) – Schumacher – 299
10.Joakim Nicolaisen (NO) – Team Associated – 298

View the complete Offroad event results here.

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Bayer leads the way in 4WD qualifying at DHI

Reigning European Champion Martin Bayer made his intentions clear in the opening two rounds of 4WD Buggy qualifying at the DHI Cup taking his Xray XB4 to a pair of 15-laps run at the Odense based event.  In the opening qualifier the Czech ace was the only driver to record 15-laps setting the fastest time ahead new young Team Associated signing Jesper Rasmussen.  The second encounter was a closer affair with defending champion Joern Neumann becoming only the second driver to run 15-laps.  A bad lap by Bayer meant the Durango driver would finish the round just 1/10th of a second adrift.

Bayer said ‘after a not so good time in 2WD’, him only managing to qualify 9th overall for the A-Main, his 4WD performance was ‘really good’.  Describing his LRP powered buggy as ‘perfect’, changing nothing between runs, he said the opening round could not have gone much better.  Q2 however was not as good, the driver being the weak point.  Opting to leave his set-up as is and instead focus on adjusting his driving style, this resulted in a few mistakes in the second of the four qualifiers with him losing 2-seconds over one lap. Very confident with his XB4 for Q3 he said the plan is just try and tidy up his driving.

Chasing a hat trick of DHI wins, Neumann described Bayer’s pace in the opening qualifier as ‘very fast’ and trying to keep pace with him he pushed too hard leading to mistakes that left him only 9th fastest.  Running heavier rear shock oil and a softer front swaybar on his DEX410 in Q2 he said that despite starting the heat down the order due to his Q1 performance he was able to run more with Bayer, recording the fastest lap of the round.  Planning to go heavier again with the oil in the rear shocks for the penultimate run he will also use an untouched set of front tyres having previously removed pins. The EOS Champion said because of the unusually low traction for a carpet track he needs the extra grip.

Describing his car as ‘OK’ for the opening qualifier when he posted the fourth fastest time, Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill said changes for Q2 made it ‘fell a lot better’.  Sitting second overall after two rounds, the British driver switched from 2 to 3 hole pistons which made for better landings and also put on anti-roll bars which he said brought his K1 Aero much closer to the pace of Bayer & Neumann.  Encouraged by the new found pace he said with a few more changes he ‘might actually be able to starting mixing it with the two boys’.

15-year-old Rasmussen was very happy with his opening round but a switch to a fresh set of tyres for Q2 left his Associated B44.4 aggressive and dfficult to drive.  Finishing the round 12th fastest, the up & coming Danish talent said with the tyres now scrubbed in he should be back up to speed again in Q3.

In a reverse of form with Bayer, 2WD Top Qualifier Oskar Levin struggled with his 4WD managing only the 13th & 7th fastest times with his Team C.  These results leave the Swede sitting provisional 10th.

View the complete Offroad event results here.

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Levin 2WD Top Qualifier at DHI Cup

Oskar Levin has got his 2014 season & his new sponsorship with Team C off to the best start possible by securing the overall TQ honours for 2WD Buggy at the DHI Cup.  Having TQ’d both of yesterday’s opening qualifiers in Denmark giving him the provisional overnight TQ honours, TQ runs from defending champion Joern Neumann in Q3 and Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill in Q4 meant the Swede remained top of the ranking.  Cockerill will start tomorrow’s triple leg finals from 2nd with Neumann’s Durango set to line up third.

Delighted to be Top Qualifier on his international race debut with Team C, Levin said he just did his own thing today and it paid off.  Going into Q3 he said his aim was just to go for a safe run and apart from two bobbles he was happy overall with his run to the second fastest time behind Neumann. While this put Neumann in strong contention to deny Levin the overall TQ, should the German be able to repeat it in the final qualifier, the 19-year-old stuck to his game plan for Q4.  Knowing it would give him a slower car but thinking ahead to the finals he fitted a new set of the controlled Schumacher rear tyres to his TM2 V2 so as to break them in for main event. While Neumann looked threatening for the first two minutes, a mistake by the European Champion gave Levin what he described as the ‘perfect start with Team C so far’.

TQ’ing the final round, Cockerill said he was pretty happy although the Top Qualifier of the Euro Offroad Series season opener said he would obviously prefer to be starting as No.1 tomorrow.  Very happy with his Nosram powered Cougar KF, the British driver said it took a while to get the set-up right but he got there in the end.  Planning to just freshen up the buggy for the finals he believes there is good opportunity for overtaking due to there being no grip roll issues meaning its should be possible to throw down the inside for a pass.

Reverting back to Schumacher’s stagger front tyre having struggled in Q2 on Mini Pins, Neumann said Q3 was a good run but in Q4 he just pushed too hard.  Also improving his Orion powered DEX210 for today’s qualifiers by running heavier diff oil, he said he just went for the TQ in Q4. While the first 2-minutes went well he eventually pushed over the limit resulting in a number of mistakes that left him only 7th fastest for the round.  Looking to maintain his 100% winning record at the DHI Cup having won the event since offroad was introduced in 2012, Neumann thinks overtaking will be difficult and that it will be down to who does the least amount of mistakes.  Back to back champion of the carpet based Euro Offroad Series, he also feels the Team C and Schumacher has an advantage on this year’s DHI track due to the fact that their motors are mounted further towards the middle of the chassis compared to his Durango.

2WD Buggy A-Main Grid
1. Oskar Levin (SE) – Team C – 310 pts
2. Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 308
3. Jörn Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 307
4. Kim Nielsen (DK) – Team C – 305
5. Jesper Rasmussen (DK) – Team Associated – 301
6. Jonas Kaerup (DK) – Team Associated – 299
7. Niclas Månsson (SE) – Team Associated – 299
8. Villalba Zacarias (ES) – Team C – 298
9. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 298
10.Thomas Andersson (SE) – Schumacher – 297

View the complete Offroad event results here.

View our event image gallery here.